My first marathon will be in a couple weeks. I ran my first HM about a month ago and had a blast! Paced properly because of advice and knowledge I received on this forum.

My training for the full marathon, I'm afraid, will not be sufficient to line up my HM time with a full marathon time. Thus, I'm more excited for my second marathon in October (already signed up, I'll see if that was a good idea after marathon #1 or not) when I'll have more miles under my belt because of more time to train.

My first marathon is also in October. I am running one in Key West. But training program? I don't do those. Didn't do it for any of my distances 5k, 10k, HM, 25k and don't plan to for this either lol. I'm one of those stubborn people who just wants to run to stay active and go at it race day.

I am running my first marathon in October (the Chicago Marathon). I have a half marathon on June 14, have a week for recovery, then start "official" marathon training. Though in reality, I have already started, my last long run was 14.5 miles.

My stats are actually pretty close to yours:

45 years old, 5K: 25:46 and half 2:07:52. Hoping for the half marathon PR to be closer to 2:05 in a couple weeks.

What training plan are you following? I have pretty conservative goals for the marathon - to get to the race healthy, finish in under 5 hours, and enjoy the experience.

Hey Everyone! Thanks for starting this thread. I am running my first marathon this Oct at Long Beach, CA. I have done a couple of half marathons but with very inconsistent running and no formal training plan and hence very disappointing times. My training plan starts from this Monday, I am planning to do Hal's Novice2 program. Have been building up a good base to atleast be on the week 3-4 level of the plan. Very excited abt the training this time

50 year-old male living in the Washington, DC area. My first marathon will be in October (I may be able to get in the Marine Corps Marathon) or November (probably Philly or Richmond).

I'm new to distance running. I've been running 7-10 miles per week at most for the last 10 years. I started running more in March. I'm now at 29 miles per week and moving up to 40 miles/week by July. Then, in the 3 months before the marathon, I'll hopefully go up to 45-50 miles/week and do a bit of speedwork.

I did a 10k (~51 minutes) in April. The main purpose was to determine at what pace I should do most of my training runs (~9:50/mile).

I'm hoping to break the 4:00 mark ... for my second marathon For the first one, I'll play it by ear.

I'm running my first Marathon in October. The Twin Cities Marathon. I've been running about a year 10-15 miles per week. I'm on week one of training for the Marathon. Running every other day, one long run, one tempo run. My goal is to be injury free on race day & to finish!

My first marathon is also this October (Marine Corps). I am excited and scared to death all at the same time - I can't wait for race day to get here but feel like I don't have enough time to be fully prepared, if there is such a thing

Running with Turtles- I am using the HAL HIGDON apps on my phone. I used it for my half and I am going to use it for my full. I actually missed my last long run before my half so I never ran more than 11 miles. My goals for the full marathon are to train properly, avoid injury and starting cycling for cross training. I didn't cross train very much for my half. I mainly walked for cross training.

This means many of us will be doing a HALF MARATHON sometime in August if we're doing a full in October. I'm thinking of signing up for the Narragansett Bay Marathon in Providence, RI for my half but I'm not sure yet if that will be the one

What do your training programs look like? Mine starts at 6 miles for the long run in 2 weeks.

I used the Higdon Intermediate plan for my half marathon next weekend. I started it early because I had two 5K races in there and I ended up finishing it ahead of time and just continued upping the mileage of the long run.

Prior to signing up for the full I had already signed up for the Madison Mini half marathon in August. So I am set there.

I decided to splurge for the full marathon and got a custom Greg McMillan plan. I have his book and I liked his training philosophies. It is nice because I can also email them and ask questions. I have lots of those! The plan starts with an 8-10 mile long run but since I am already at 14, they suggested I start at 14 instead of backing down.

I'm doing Chicago in October as my first as well. I've done a half-marathon every year for the past 6 years, so I think it's time! I'm 48 and my half PR is 1:51:46. I'm going to use Higdon's Intermediate 2 plan and maybe throw in a little of the speed work from his Advanced 1 as I've done speed work for my last several half marathons. I'm also probably going to add some miles to those mid-week runs early in the plan as I'm already averaging over 30 MPW. Training starts Monday - I'm nervous!

I ran a half 2 weeks ago and will be running another one in september. I will start training for a full marathon very soon. New York in november. I'm trying to find myself a trainer. I really want to make sure I train properly and finish the race !!! Anyone else planning on hiring a trainer ?

I am running my first marathon in October (the Chicago Marathon). I have a half marathon on June 14, have a week for recovery, then start "official" marathon training. Though in reality, I have already started, my last long run was 14.5 miles.

My stats are actually pretty close to yours:

45 years old, 5K: 25:46 and half 2:07:52. Hoping for the half marathon PR to be closer to 2:05 in a couple weeks.

What training plan are you following? I have pretty conservative goals for the marathon - to get to the race healthy, finish in under 5 hours, and enjoy the experience.

We have very similar goals for our first marathon !!! Finish on my two legs, not take too too long and enjoy the New York scenery !!!

I am signed up for my first marathon, the Columbus Marathon, which is in October. I ran one half this spring and three last year. Having a hard time deciding on a plan - Hal Higdon vs Train Like a Mother vs Runcoach. Hoping to finish under 5 hours.

My first marathon is also in October. I am running one in Key West. But training program? I don't do those. Didn't do it for any of my distances 5k, 10k, HM, 25k and don't plan to for this either lol. I'm one of those stubborn people who just wants to run to stay active and go at it race day.

I'm running the Southernmost Marathon in Key West too! It's going to be my first one, and I'm so excited!

Hi all! I am base building right now for a fall marathon. I hope to work up from 30 to 40 mpw by end of July injury free. If I can handle that I will start increasing my long run over 12 weeks to peak around 50mpw. That is about the extent of my plan for my 1st. I have been running consistently for about a year and a half and have done 4 HM's. I am only setting a goal of finishing(and running the whole thing) for my first. My goal race is in November in Fort Worth, but if something should happen along the way I will have another shot in December at the Dallas marathon.

Hello, I haven't posted in RW for a while. I moved over to RA at some point last year and haven't really been back here. But they don't really have a thread for first time marathoners so I figured I'd join this thread. I've ran 6 half marathons since 2011, I've been running since 2010. Before Indy's Monumental Half last November I never considered a marathon, figured I would always enjoy half marathons. The marathon bug bit me, and on New Year's Day I signed up for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November, my training begins in 2 weeks and I am really excited. I have my own plan which I am constantly tweaking and changing but I can post it here:

I am training for the Grand Rapids Marathon in October. I trained for a 25k two years ago, lost a bunch of weight but them switched to Crossfit and weightlifting. Since then I've put about 30 pounds back on (lost 71) so I thought I would start running again as my body seemed to respond well. I started ramping up miles a few weeks back and just completes the first week of my 20 week training plan; 20 miles with a long of 7. I am using a custom plan from Jason over at Strength Running. He brought me through my 25k without injury, thought I'd ask for his help this time around as well.

I'm new to entering races so I noticed in Florida the marathons stop for a couple of months because of the hotter weather and start back up in October. Looking at everyone's replies here, it seems that's the same for you all because almost everyone here said October. So is, that a running season general schedule or just a coincidence? lol

I'm new to entering races so I noticed in Florida the marathons stop for a couple of months because of the hotter weather and start back up in October. Looking at everyone's replies here, it seems that's the same for you all because almost everyone here said October. So is, that a running season general schedule or just a coincidence? lol

Fall is a really nice time to run here in the Midwest, so the "major" marathons are in October. There are marathons throughout the year but the majority are in Spring/early Summer and Fall. I honestly don't know who would want to train for a Spring marathon during the Wisconsin winter though!

Hello. I am running a fall marathon because of the HEAT up here in the Northeast during the summer. I'll be training all summer but the actual race is fall.....which gives me just enough time to train for it. I just completed my first 13.1/HM last Sunday, June 1st and took a full week off and today was my first run after it. I ran 3 miles...........I can definitely feel it in my legs but they warmed up and I started feeling good after mile 2. I am running a 10k this coming weekend and then my Hal Higdon Novice 1 training plan begins on June 16th

I am going to start considering racing weight. Has anyone done research or gotten to a "racing weight" before? I wonder when you start trying to get to it?

I am going to start considering racing weight. Has anyone done research or gotten to a "racing weight" before? I wonder when you start trying to get to it?

I have dropped a lot of weight unintentionally since I started running, not that I was that heavy. I am about 5'5, 105 lbs. So I really don't think about getting to racing weight.

They say a runner peaks after about 5-7 years of running. This is only my third year, so I think I have a ways to go and there is a lot I can do to get there without worrying about my weight. I think that is the case for most beginners, and racing weight doesn't become an issue unless you are at a plateau or if you do need to drop some weight in general.

I also have noticed that marathon runners come in all sizes. I was spectating at my husband's first marathon and the people running sub 8 minute miles were not necessarily what you would naturally think of when you think about fast marathoners. One of my friends is "heavier" and she qualified for Boston and runs marathons regularly. So I personally don't think that weight is that big of a factor in running success. Just my opinion.

From your photo, it doesn't look like you have that much weight to drop. Or are you thinking of gaining weight? I think we will all lose some weight as we train, as long as we eat mindfully. 2 hour plus long runs will burn a lot of calories!

I started running in January 2012 with C25K and quickly graduated to 10Ks, then 10 milers and ran my first HM in August 2012.

Altogether, my racing "career" so far consists of about a dozen or so 5K races, two 10Ks, two 7 milers, five 10 milers and six HMs.

In 2013, I kind of lost focus on running and got into distance cycling (rode about 650 miles in addition to the running, including a metric century ride). My racing suffered, but I made it through two HMs last fall.

I got re-focused on running in December and at the start of this year, decided 2014 would be the year to step up to the full.

I'm slow, so I don't have great expectations on time, but I am hoping for 5:30 or less. My main goal is to train my butt off and get to the starting line strong enough to be sure I don't end up in a death march to the finish line.

I've decided to do a (very slightly) modified Hanson's beginner plan - I am currently run streaking, so I plan to add in a VERY easy 1 mile recovery run on the one rest day in the Hanson plan.

It is in a way, a SCARY amount of mileage to run between now and race day, but I'd rather over prepare (not overtrain) than get there doubting if I had done enough.

My PRs to date are:

5K: 29:16 (Turkey Trot - just after Philly HM in Nov 2012)

10K: 1:02:00 (This March after running a LOT in Jan/Feb/Mar - just before I was sidelined by injury for a few weeks)

10 Mile (unofficial): 1:45:xx

HM: 2:28:15 (Philly HM in Nov. 2012)

I had really good success in training for the Philly HM in 2012, and I'm hoping I can repeat that by focusing on the training.

My total planned mileage for this year is about as much as I ran in 2012 and 2013 COMBINED, but after making it through the first 5 months averaging nearly 30 mpw, I'm feeling good about the mileage to come.

Philly's going to be my first this fall too, but I live in Baltimore so I'll be training on hills, racing mostly flat. Heat and humidity will be roughly the same, which is to say dreadful.

Planning to follow Hansons beginner, with maybe a few more miles here and there so I can do an 18-mile run. Haven't decided on that yet, I'll play that by ear depending on how I feel midway through training. Currently approaching 40 mpw and hoping to hold that throughout the summer, until my training starts in August. I'm a little clueless on what training paces to take... Never done a 5K before and it's starting to get warm enough that I don't know if I want to race one now.

Obviously, I don't have the experience to recommend a pace, but I'd say your recent results from your HM and Broad Street should give you a good guide - you don't need to run a 5K to pick a pace to train toward... in fact I think the longer races are better predictors.

I'm a little clueless on what training paces to take... Never done a 5K before and it's starting to get warm enough that I don't know if I want to race one now.

You can use Greg McMillan's online calculator to calculate your predicted full marathon time and get training paces for different types of training runs. It's a very useful tool. It's true that the half marathon is a better predictor of your full marathon time than a 5K, since most people tend to slow down as the race gets longer. The caveat of the online calculator is that it assumes that you are doing intensive training, and for a beginner the full marathon estimated time may not be that accurate. But the training paces would be very useful for you.

Oh, and I should also add that the McMillan site gives a range of paces for each workout (and also heart rate percentages if you are heart rate training). If you don't feel that great, you can aim for the low end of the range. If you can complete your workouts in the high range easily, then your fitness may be better and you may want to adjust your full marathon time goal. The expectation is that as you train your fitness will improve and you will need to "tweak" your pacing.

Pace- if you use a GPS watch or your phone for all of your runs and races it will eventually begin to show you a pattern in pace and even break out which miles you were running fastest. I know that I can run a 5k race in an 8-9 minute mile but when I do a 6-10 mile run I am between 9-10 minute miles depending on various factors. I've only been training since March 2014 but so far my pacing has been pretty accurate. I always conserve energy and go slow in the beginning and then pick up the pace once I determine things like whether I feel any pain, my heart rate being in a comfortable pace, breathing under control and trying to find a zone where I can plug along without running out of steam. A huge game changer for me was putting bottles of water out on the course I planned to run on and bringing those BLOK chews on the run and making sure to take them every few miles so I stay hydrated and fueled on runs past 5 miles. If you have a GPS device you'll start seeing how you pace and how you feel and keep a journal so you know what works best I'm excited you're all here with me so we can post about our training!

Oops, I should've been more specific when I said I wasn't sure about pace... I do know that the pace calculators are very useful, but my 2 recent races gave such different results that I don't completely trust either. The HM I ran at the end of March wasn't the best I can do, the weather was horrible and I'd just gotten over a respiratory infection (literally just, I finished up antibiotics 2 days before the race) and ran at a 9:00 pace. A month later, the 10-miler was one of those races where everything lines up perfectly, great weather, fast course, felt very strong and ran at a 7:55 pace. Was aiming for something in the 8:20-8:30 range and was sure I was going to crash but never did, my last 3 miles were my fastest at 7:49. The funny thing about that is that early that week, I'd run about 5K in my neighborhood as fast as I could, which ended up being 7:44 and I felt like I was going to keel over at the end. So I guess I think about running another race mostly to get another result and see which one of these races was the fluke, or if the truth lies somewhere in between.

When I run, I do track my time but only with my iPod, not a GPS, so it's not perfect and only gives an overall time, no breakdown of individual miles. I was hoping the Nike+ would be useful but for me it's been completely inaccurate, though to be fair I never calibrated it. Thinking I should break down and get a GPS watch for when actual training begins. Hansons really leans into you about staying at specific paces for specific workouts, and I stink at that.

When I run, I do track my time but only with my iPod, not a GPS, so it's not perfect and only gives an overall time, no breakdown of individual miles. I was hoping the Nike+ would be useful but for me it's been completely inaccurate, though to be fair I never calibrated it. Thinking I should break down and get a GPS watch for when actual training begins. Hansons really leans into you about staying at specific paces for specific workouts, and I stink at that.

You're a speedy one! As I recall with Hanson's (I read the book last year), the pacing is very important for the speedwork and in particular the marathon pace runs since you are "burning" that pace into your muscle memory. I think you can get by in the speedwork, it would take some time to figure out that place where you are working hard, but leaving enough in the tank for the final interval. But I think that happens regardless of aiming for a specific pace, unless you are used to doing speedwork.

A GPS watch definitely comes in handy if you are serious about running. It is also nice to be able to program intervals into the watch. It may be nice to also have a heart rate monitor. If you are running in hot and humid weather, your heart rate may be a better indicator of perceived exertion than trying to force yourself to hit certain paces.

If you don't feel like running another race, I think with Hanson's using a conservative estimate to begin may be recommended. The mileage demands are pretty high and ramp up pretty quickly as I recall. Then you can adjust as you proceed. Unless you are running very high mileage already.

I am signed up for my first marathon - the Twin Cities Marathon in October. I ran my first ever organized race in April of this year - a half marathon where I finished in 1:51:25. Then in early June I finished another half in 1:47:08. Now it's full-swing training for the marathon, with no races planned in between.

I am a 38 year old male living in the Twin Cities area. I've never been a serious runner, but have gone in streaks of running here and there. Used to be into heavy weight lifting a lot, but gave that up a few years back due to lack of motivation and constantly hurting shoulders.

In 2013, I topped out at a 10.1 mile run, just because. No training plan, no goals, nothing. Then I started thinking about doing a race or two in 2014, bought Higdon's book, and went from there. I followed his Novice plan for the half races I did, and now I'm generally using Novice 1 for the full marathon. I say "generally" because I use the mileage pretty strictly, but I do some of the Tuesday runs at race pace or faster. I also skip some of the cross training workouts, but I know I shouldn't.

I am really liking running now, for several reasons. One, getting outside and seeing the area. Two, I do really well with a documented plan and an end goal - I have both of those going right now, and it keeps me motivated. Three, I think the GPS watch is awesome - as an engineer and data freak, I love the information it provides while running, and the analysis available afterward.

I use and abuse the following:

My Garmin 210 GPS watch

A Virgin Health Miles pedometer (provided by my employer for health purposes)

I have a 10 mile trail run on the 4th of July so I thought I would do my long run last week (8 miles) on some mountain bike trails by my house. Wow, what a difference compared to road running! I skipped a loop and finished with 7 miles (Garmin said 5.5, it did not do well with the switchbacks). Fortunately the trail by my house is much hillier than the 10 miler I have coming up.

Sunday called for a 3 mile run the day after my long run. This is the first time I have ever run the day after my long run so I was curious to see how it would go. My knees were stiff/sore for the first 1.5 miles but after that it wasn't bad. Pace was slow but I blame that on the humidity and being hung over. Oh yeah, I also learned that too much wine and spicy Thai food the night before a run is a definite bad thing. It's not the dumbest thing I've ever done, but it's up there!

Checking in after finishing up week 3 of Hal Higdon's Intermediate Marathon plan - 15 more weeks to go! The humidity in Boston hasn't been too bad, but during yesterday's BAA 10K it was a serious struggle with the sun. I'm still holding out on actually signing up for my full out of worry about running over 16 miles and how it will affect my knee

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